Image forming apparatus, such as a liquid electrostatic printing apparatus, generally include an image transfer blanket that receives images formed on an imaging member and transfer the image onto a substrate such as print media.
Typically, charged, liquid ink is electrically transferred from an imaging plate to the blanket when the blanket and imaging plate rotate into contact. In the region where the blanket and the imaging plate come into contact, ink drops are compressed into the nip while experiencing shear forces, which can result in smearing of ink dots. The level of smearing may be particularly dependent on the level of ink-blanket adhesion.